Sauna Thoughts..

With the hype of the new sauna coming to SWS studio, I couldn't help but take advantage of my step-dads sauna over the weekend! I was good and sweaty after a workout & was ready to sweat some more & get rid of some toxins!

I grabbed some water, a readers digest & a washcloth (so I could continue reading with sweaty hands!) & set the timer to 25 minutes.  I typically get claustrophobic in a sauna, so I made sure the door could open.  I sat and waited.

I spent the next 20 minutes anxiously checking the temperature, watching the minutes ticking down & making note of my body NOT sweating!  I kept thinking to myself, "I'm not benefiting from this unless I'm dripping"! Not true, by the way...

I finally increased the time (and sent up a silent prayer that I wasn't harming my body in the process!) and kept waiting.  The last few minutes, it finally happened: I could feel beads of sweat rolling down my body.  I was so excited! #missionaccomplished

I stayed in for about 40 minutes total & only 5 of them were spent actively sweating.  I got out, feeling pretty unsatisfied with the experience.

Why am I giving you a play-by-play of my sauna experience?

Because with all this time I had in the sauna (a Readers Digest only lasts so long..) I got to thinking...

My experience in the sauna can be very similar to a lot of peoples fitness journey.

We start a new workout regime or start with a trainer or enroll if group fitness classes & we want to see immediate results. 

We get discouraged when the scale doesn't go down, our clothes aren't fitting better & we haven't lost inches.

Just like I did in the sauna, we need to stay the course & be patient.   

Just because we aren't seeing physical changes, doesn't mean change isn't happening. It's just happening in other ways.

Maybe you're a little more confident because you've stuck with those 5:30am classes even though you wanted to hit snooze.

Maybe you're noticing a little more energy throughout your day.

Maybe you're making healthier choices with your food.

Maybe you're sleeping better?

Maybe you've noticed a change in your mental health.

There is more to our fitness journey than the physical changes.  Sure, those are nice, but when we're not seeing them I want to invite you to look on the inside & see what you notice. 

And, maybe there's a lot more going on that's causing you not to see those physical changes. 

Moral of this sauna story?  Stay consistent despite not seeing physical changes.  Your fitness journey is a marathon, not a sprint!